Fairytale
by xXtHeMiSsInGxX
Summary: Kind of hard to explain. Crossover between the Darren Shan Saga, Harry Potter and Angel. Sounds bad... but it should get better later on.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Okay... so, this is my first fanfic on this site and I know it probably sucks but... still. And I know the title sucks and is probably a little cliche but it's honestly the only one that works. So... yeah._

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any characters mentioned from the Darren Shan Saga or Angel.

"Write about a recent dream you had. It can be good, bad, happy, scary - anything so long as it's a dream that you had. I want it on my desk by Monday morning." The teacher waltzed back to her desk and shoved her nose back into her romance novel – either completely oblivious or completely ignoring the mumbled complaints from her students.

I picked up my pencil and started writing some ridiculous made up dream about finding my way to a creepy candy land, where I had the time of my life but had to resort to eating the mayor (made entirely of chocolate) because the village people wouldn't give me their Lucky Charms. I could never write about a real dream of mine – they'd send me to the counselor again. Despite popular belief, it's actually a lot like visiting a psychiatrist; an annoying, meddling, thick headed psychiatrist. Thank god the assignment is about a dream and not a 'scary experience' like last time. Now _that_ was hard to get out of, especially when we had to present. The one thing I learned that day; when your teacher tells you to write about a scary experience, don't be an idiot and write about the time you almost got yourself gutted by an angry demon.

When I finished writing about 'my dream', I snuck a peak over Miles' shoulder. Just as I thought, Miles had spent almost the entire time doodling. Today, it was the 'zombie ninjas' he was convinced he could write a comic book about. If DC comics could write about a finely toned man with no super powers what-so-ever besides his immense wealth… no, Miles could _never _write a comic book. I'll be blunt; his zombie ninjas suck ass. The bell rang, signaling the end of Language Arts and the end of the day.

As we walked through the empty halls, my friends and I talked about anything and nothing and everything between. My friends are a… unique bunch. Most of our tastes are so different it's amazing we're friends in the first place. First, there's Tawny. She has blonde curly hair and is 16 – just like me. She loves older music like Elvis and Frank Sinatra and stuff. Her wardrobe is basically jeans, converse (she has over 15 pairs) and various t-shirts – most of which are marked by her favorite bands, but a few have the random saying or symbol. Then, there's Peyton. She's got long black hair that's dyed bright red at the tips and is 17. Her wardrobe consists of… well, mostly black, but there's some reds, blues and purples mixed in too. I've absolutely no idea what Peyton listens to, every time I've looked at her she was either reading, writing, or drawing a picture of some mangled person. They're really good. Even the subjects in the drawings say so. Next we have Miles. He's 16 and has blue spiky hair (his real hair color was orange- think carrot top orange- but he wanted to change it because, and I quote, 'it clashed too much with his sense of style'). He mostly listens to techno and metal and stuff like that. His wardrobe… well, it's different. It's kind of hard to describe since it tends to change from week to week. One week he'll be wearing the brightest clothes you can imagine, and then the next week he'll be dressed in dark colors – except for his hair. Not once after he died his hair blue has he ever changed colors. Last but not least, there's Nadia. She's got long black hair, dark eyes and is 17. Her and my taste in anything is almost identical, probably because we've pretty much grown up together. The only big difference is that her closet is loaded with skirts and she wears them almost religiously. You'd have to shoot me, stick me in a straight jacket, and gag me before I'd wear a skirt voluntarily.

We walked through the front doors of the school and down the front steps. The sky was cloudy, as usual. It was rarely ever sunny out, and if it was the sun only shown for a few hours. We walked across the lawn, laughing and joking as we went. It was then that I saw him, the new kid. He was standing under a tree, his brown messy hair hanging in front of his brown eyes. For a second that felt like hours, our eyes locked.

'Hi.'

The look of shock on his face was priceless when I played my greeting in his mind. His mouth was slightly open as we passed him. I shot a glance at Nadia and saw her smirk before my attention shifted back to our conversation, something about what Miles did to a cheerleader at school. "Speak of the devil," he muttered under his breath as three cheerleaders walked out of the school. "Sherry! What a pleasant surprise," Miles said cheerfully as the brunette in front shot us all a death glare. "Still mad about this afternoon?" he asked in the same cheerful tone. "Oh. Nice. Very lady-like," he said as she showed him her finger, the two girls by her side grinning like they'd accomplished something especially devious. Tawny and Miles were laughing hysterically at this point, Nadia and I were smirking, and Peyton… was staring after them, smiling – grinning more like. "Peyton!"

A shout came from somewhere on our left as a boy walked up to us. His black spiky hair and pale face giving him away instantly as Marti, Peyton's brother. She stared at him blankly then bid us a quiet 'good-bye'. "Bye, Peyton," Nadia said softly as Peyton walked across the lawn to her waiting brother. The group was silent for a few moments. It was odd, often times when Peyton would leave, everything would get quiet between the four of us. It was like she set the mood for our conversations or something "Well, on that note," Tawny said, succeeding in breaking the silence, "I gotta go. C'mon, your old man will have your neck if you're late again." She was talking to Miles. They lived right next door to each other, and would often times sleep at each other's houses. They didn't have the best parents in the world so when things would get rough (which, as much as I hate to say it, it often did), they'd sleep on the floor of the other's room. "Bye guys," I said as they waved and walked through the gate of the school.

Nadia and I followed the brick wall of the school until we got to the back. We crossed the deserted playground and stepped through the gate at the very back of the playground. I loved that playground. It was eerie and old and always seemed to be wet. The swings would creak in the wind, and the see-saw would go up and down on its own. The slide had once been a shiny metal but over the years had rusted, giving a very small illusion of blood running down the sides and through the crevices if you stared at it long enough under the right light. I'd go to it when I felt bad, and oddly enough, it always made me feel better. That and the rain… but I won't get into that. Not now. We walked down the sidewalk to the somewhat hidden neighborhood behind the school. "The new boy," Nadia said, "Darren's his name right?"

I sighed. "Yeah, I think so."

"He seems… different."

I grinned. I knew what she was getting at. He spoke differently than everyone else in the room when he introduced himself – different words and phrases. I was almost confident that I knew what he was, his eyes gave him away almost immediatley. "You noticed too?" I asked.

"How could I not with… our past experiences?" said Nadia, smirking as she said the last part.

I laughed and we walked in silence off the sidewalk and down the hill to an old brown fence. We were standing in a small forest-like place. Trees formed an almost complete circle, stopping at the beginning of the hill and leaves littered the ground. It was a few degrees cooler in here than up on the hill - the sunlight never really made it through the branches to warm the floor. Just as I was about to swing my leg over the moist wood of the fence, Nadia spoke. "I don't trust him. " I stopped and hopped back off the fence.

"So?" I said slowly, "You hardly ever trust anyone. None of us do."

"I still think it's strange for him to be here." She paused; clearly hesitant about what she was about to say, "What if he works for her?" She said the last part in a whisper.

"Nadia, come on," I said skeptically, "Do you really think a vampire is going to be in league with Gizera?"

She sighed and looked down at the ground. "All I'm saying is it's a possibility," she looked back up at me, "I think we should tell Angel and Spike about this."

I stared at her for a minute before I agreed. She had a point; we couldn't really trust him. We had no idea what he was doing here, or where he came from. He could've been sent to kill us for all we knew.

She sighed and looked out over the fence and into our neighborhood. She shifted uncomfortably and bit her lip.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Look, we'll tell Faith about it, she'll tell Spike, he'll tell Angel, Angel will tell Wes, and then they'll all look into it, okay?"

She nodded thankfully and I turned back to face the fence.

"I swear, you're acting more and more like Wesley every day," I mumbled. I swung my leg over the fence and landed on the other side, facing Nadia. I froze as I saw the heel of someone's trainer disappear behind a branch. Nadia spun around when she saw my face. I slipped my messenger bag from my shoulder and set it down on the wet grass. I hopped back over the fence and stood by Nadia. "Do you think it was him?" she asked quietly, her tone full of alarm. I didn't answer and instead stepped forward cautiously. I scanned the trees, searching for any sign of whoever had been spying on us. A jolt went through me as a pair of eyes locked with mine. In a split second, the eyes had disappeared and I was left wondering if I'd been seeing things again. "Do you see anything?" Nadia asked, eyes narrowed and focused on the same spot I was looking at. I looked around at the upper branches and the rest of the clearing before my eyes settled back onto the same place. "No." There was silence only for a moment before it was shattered by the leaves rustling in the breeze. "We should go," said Nadia,"we're down wind from whoever that was. If they're… like us, they'll have our scent by now."

I gave one last glance around the clearing before I turned and walked back to the fence. We hopped the fence and walked to the house in silence, Nadia occasionally looking around at the surrounding trees to make sure we weren't followed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own Darren (he belongs to Daren Shan) or Faith (she belongs to... whoever wrote for Buffy the Vampire Slayer)._

Friday. I was in the library, sitting on the couch, watching the rain. Darren was there, too. He'd been following me for the past few days. If Nadia and my assumptions were correct, he could've shadowed me much better. It was almost like he wanted us to see him.

I could feel his eyes on me. I was tempted to stare right back at him… but I was too preoccupied with watching the rain. I loved the rain. It was almost like some sort of drug for me, the way it smelled; the way it fell on my skin, the way it tasted. It'd send me on this natural high that I couldn't get out of and that was damn near impossible to control. I traced the small trails of the rain drops on the window with my finger… and almost jumped out of my skin as a dark shadow flew past the window. I hopped to my feet when I saw who was outside. Two people were fighting just outside the window, both very familiar to me. Their shouts were masked by a long clap of thunder. Suddenly, the taller figure lunged at the smaller one, sending him flat on his back. I rushed out of the library and out into the rain. I took a sharp right and ran to the library window. The two figures were rolling around beneath the glass. I ran over to them and tried to pull them apart, only to be thrown against the wall. I scrambled to my feet and tackled the tall one to the ground. The two of us fell on the smaller one, pinning him to the ground. The tall one shoved me off of him and rolled off the small one into a crouching position. "Neesha, this is no concern of yours!" Marti shouted at me through the rain, his face completely enveloped in anger.

"It is my business when you include others like us! What the hell do you think you're doing! Are you trying to get us caught!"

He was on his feet by now, hands balled into fists and ready to strike. The small one was standing behind me, wiping blood from under his nose. "Tyler, what happened?" I asked the boy as he pushed the blood-stained tips of his hair out of his eyes."

"I've no idea what his problem is! He just attacked me out of nowhere! I…"

He stopped in mid-sentence and looked up to somewhere behind Marti. Marti and I turned around and saw Darren and three other people standing behind us, watching. "We'll finish this later," Marti murmured threateningly so only Tyler and I could hear, although I'm pretty sure Darren heard it, too. A loud clap of thunder blasted our ears and the six of us rushed into the library building. Once inside Tyler shook his head, sending water everywhere. Marti did the same, followed by a glare as he leaned up against the wood paneling of the side entrance. "You're bleeding." I set a finger to my forehead and drew it back when I saw the blood on my fingers. Now I noticed how much my head was throbbing. "C'mon, I'll take you to the nurse," said Tyler as he held out his hand.

"No, I'm fine."

"You idiot, Neesha," Marti said, "Your head's gushing."

"No it's not," I said as I wiped a drop of blood away from my temple.

Tyler and Marti looked at each other, and then back at me.

"Don't even think about…" Before I could get out my warning I was being dragged down the hall, Marti's arm under my right elbow and Tyler's under my left.

About 10 minutes later, I was sitting on the cot in the nurse's office, holding an ice pack to my now freezing forehead. Tyler and Marti were with me; Tyler's nose had stopped bleeding and Marti was holding two icepacks over a bruise on his leg and on his arm. We were sentenced to two weeks in OCS (On Campus Suspension). I'm not sure how I ended up in trouble… I mean I _did _stop the fight after all. Oh well, better brace myself for when I get home. Most of my free period was left so I'm supposed to stay in the nurse's office and 'think about what I've done'. The only problem; I've got nothing to think about. So I sat on the cot, swinging my legs back and forth, holding the ice pack to my forehead, watching the doorway. I stopped my legs when Darren appeared in the door. He glanced at Marti and Tyler (who were staring at Darren, very much alert). He looked to me. "Neesha, I'm supposed to walk you home or something." He sounded reluctant. Hm… maybe…. I scare him! Nah, he probably just thinks I'm weird and wants to stay as far away from me as possible. Yush! And another one bites the dust!... or whatever.

"Why?"

"I'm not sure. He said something about Faith not being able to come get you."

The 'he' Darren was referring to was our principal. Not Faith who is in fact, my guardian.

"Why not one of them?" I asked, motioning to Marti and Tyler.

"I asked him… he said something about not trusting you with them."

I laughed, Marti smirked and Tyler snickered. Darren just looked confused.

"Alrighty, then."

I pulled the icepack away from my forehead, hopped off the cot and walked into the little mini bathroom in the corner of the office. The bleeding had stopped a little while ago, and a small purple band-aid now sat over the cut on my forehead. I walked out and dropped the pack on the counter. I followed him out of the nurse's office and into the entryway of the school, then out into what was left of the rainy Friday.

------------------------------------------------------------------

"Can I ask you something?" Darren asked as we walked along the wet sidewalk.

"You just did, but go ahead."

"When you stopped Marti and Tyler from fighting… what did you mean by 'others like us'?"

I paused, unsure if I should tell him. It would be a bit dangerous for us if he knew.

"I don't think I can tell you," I said as we walked down the hill and into the cover of the little forest.

"Why not?"

I rested my hand on the damp wood of the fence. It's funny… the fence always seems to be damp. "Because… it's mysterious. Oooooh," I said, waving my hands around in a swirly manner.

He arched an eyebrow and I lowered my hands back onto the damp wood.

"It's… complicated. And besides, I'd probably get into huge trouble if I said anything. Can I ask _you_ a question?"

He paused, probably thinking about what I was going to ask. "Um, sure," he said uncertainly.

"What is someone like _you_ doing in a school? I mean, shouldn't you be scaring helpless children or…. sleeping or something?"

He was quiet for a few moments, probably trying to decide whether I knew what he was or not.

"I hope you know I'm kidding about scaring kiddies. That would be mean, and you don't strike me as a mean vampire," I said pleasantly.

"You know what I am?" He looked surprised, oddly enough.

I looked at him. "Yes. Nadia and I figured it out a few days ago. Don't worry," I laughed as I saw the slight look of panic on his face, "we won't tell a soul."

"What gave me away?" he asked warily.

"Don't take this personally, but… you smell different. Now, are you going to tell me what you're doing here or not?"

"Only if you tell me what you are. You don't strike me as the average human girl."

I gasped dramatically. "What gave me away?"

"You smell different. No offense," he mocked.

"Well, that's a bit obsessive, isn't it? I mean first, you stalk me, and not very well might I add. And now, you smell me. I think you have a few more problems than near immortality and blood lust."

He gave me a weird look. I think he thinks I'm crazy.

"Well, I gots to go," I said after an exceptionally long moment of silence and weird staring.

"Wait!" I paused with both legs on the other side of the fence, "Aren't you going to tell me what you are? I told you what I am."

"Technically, I figured it out – you never told me. And no, I'm not gonna tell – not until you tell me why you've been following me."

Darren sighed. "I can't."

I shrugged. "You'll just have to figure it out on your own then."

I stepped away from the fence and walked across the grass towards the sidewalk.

"Neesha!" Darren called.

I turned around to face him and started walking backwards. He wasn't that far away; maybe 5, 6 feet at most.

"I'm not exactly who you think I am."

I arched an eyebrow and cocked my head to the side. "Oh no? Then tell me, Darren, what exactly are you?"

He smirked. "I can't really tell you, can I? That wouldn't be fair to me, now would it?"

Frowning, I stopped walking. "Shan are you blackmailing me? 'Cause you're not doing a very good job at it."

He rolled his eyes. "Look, when you tell me what you are—"

"I won't."

"—or when I figure out what you are, I'll tell you what I am."

"I see. But I already know what you are."

"Well, yes, but… not all of it."

I made a face. What the hell is he talking about? "Not all of it... Not all… Oh! You're a half-vampire then?"

His smirk immediately dissolved from his face. I'll take that as a yes. "Well, that explains a lot."

"Am…Am I going to find out what you are, then?"

I smiled. "No."

I turned back to the sidewalk. "I'll see you Monday, Darren!"


	3. Chapter 3

Slowly, the streets began to empty of people. Around 10:00 every night, most of the humans would filter out of the main shopping districts and walk or drive back to their homes – in some cases, their hotels. The local teenagers would roam the streets at night. Some knew of a few hole-in-the-wall places to shop and eat, but most just wandered around. Either it wasn't late enough for them to go home, or they had to get out of the house for whatever reason. Very few traveled in groups – a bad habit from rebellion of their parents' wishes – a deadly mistake in some cases. For a vampire, food was abundant in the excess amount of loners.

As I leaned against the side of a building, I caught sight of a girl, probably no more than 13 or 14 years old, walking down the sidewalk across the street. Her blonde hair was tangled and she looked too skinny for good health. An old, dirty backpack hung off one shoulder; a runaway. No one would notice her absence. I slipped my hands into my pockets and crossed the street.

She must've been on her own for awhile; her face was smudged with dirt, and dark circles sat under her eyes. She was shivering under her light jacket, hugging herself in a feeble attempt at keeping warm. She hadn't bathed in awhile; I could smell the body odor and stench of garbage from halfway down the sidewalk. Suddenly, I pitied her. It was obvious she wouldn't last much longer on the streets. The least I could do was get her some food before I got mine.

The girl had stopped in the light of an open diner. Her expression was one of longing as she gazed into the windows, no doubt watching fat men inhale their dinner and waitresses dump plates half full of food down the trash. "Hey." The girl nearly jumped out of her skin. She watched me with wide eyes, thoughts of what I could do to her probably running through her mind. She had no idea…

"Are you hungry? Can I get you something to eat?"

She gripped the strap of her backpack and glanced back into the windows of the diner. "I don't plan on raping you or anything," her head whipped back in my direction, "It's just… you look like you could use some food."

She hesitated, obviously unsure if she could trust me. "Well… my mom," her voice faltered and the pained expression was quickly swept away from her face, "I thought you're not supposed to accept stuff from strangers?"

"My name's Aries, and once you tell me your name, we won't be strangers anymore."

She swallowed and paused, still hesitant about trusting me. I sighed. I'd be damned if she didn't get any food, even though she'd be dead in a few minutes anyway.

I gazed into her eyes, willing her to trust me. Almost immediately she relaxed. "C'mon," I said, taking the backpack from her shoulder, "you need to get some food in you." I took her hand and led her into the warm diner.

The girl must've forgotten about everything and everyone once the food was set down in front of her. I was a bit worried; she'd do herself in before I had the chance if she kept eating at that speed.

Once every crumb had vanished from her plate, she sat back against the padding of the booth. "Thank-you," she murmured, head down and watching her lap.

"You're welcome…?"

"Amber."

"You're welcome, Amber." I nudged the coffee I'd ordered towards Amber. "Want some coffee?"

Amber grabbed the mug and immediately began sipping the warm liquid. When she was done, she set the cup onto the table and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Ready to go?" I asked.

Amber took a long last look at the diner before she looked back at me and nodded. I set some money on the table and led her out the door. Once we left the diner, Amber asked me to walk with her. I knew she would. They all did. I fought with myself while we walked. Part of me wanted to spare her. _She's only 13! She's just a kid! Someone might come to get her. She might have a chance to go back home…_

But another part of me knew I had no choice. _She's alone. She ran away. She chose this life. She won't be missed. You need her blood. She won't live much longer. Stop her suffering…_

"Amber, can I show you something?"

I half-hoped she would refuse. She nodded. The street was empty; Amber and I were the only people around. I locked my eyes with hers. Amber stiffened then relaxed, concentrating only on my eyes. My gaze never left hers as I made the small cut on her arm. The thirst was suddenly at the back of my throat as the smell of the blood wafted through my nostrils. I raised Amber's wrist to my mouth and wrapped my lips around the cut. The salty, coppery liquid flooded my mouth and throat, launching my predator instincts into action. After a few moments, Amber began to struggle. Her pulse raced as I held her still. She screamed – her last resort – but I covered her mouth with my free hand. Soon, Amber's heartbeat began to slow. It would all be over soon.

Amber's limp body was weightless in my arms as I laid her on the sidewalk. I made another cut on her other wrist. Whoever found her would think she'd committed suicide; they'd never suspect the truth. I wiped the trickle of blood from my mouth and walked away from the lifeless body. The thirst was still in the back of my throat as I walked back to the shopping district. I'd need more blood before the night was over.

I was standing in front of a Starbucks when I saw my next victim. She was walking past a designer store, lost in thought. I didn't care if she was wanted or not, I needed blood more than anything. The girl would be walking past an alley in a few seconds. It wasn't my best choice, but it'd have to do. I'd moved into the shadows in a second, giving the girl plenty of time to walk into my trap.

Just as she stepped into my line of sight, a small breeze blew her scent in my face. It was the most amazing smell I'd ever known. It was sweet – vanilla mixed withsomething another fragrance I couldn't place. My throat burned with thirst and I grabbed the girl and held her up against the brick wall.

She was thin, but not unhealthy, and of medium height. I could see her hair in the streetlight; a dark brown with the smallest bit of red mixed in. Somehow, her face was familiar to me, but from where I couldn't remember. Her pulse thundered in my head, and every thought left my mind – every thought except for the thought of her blood flowing down my throat.

Suddenly the girl shoved me away, and I fell back against some trash cans in shock. She was strong, very strong. She tried to run from the alley, but I pulled her back into the shadows, away from the safety of the light. I shoved her back against the wall and held her in place. I leaned in towards her neck – perfectly shaped and enticing beyond belief – when a flash of silver stopped me in my tracks.

A thin chain hung around her neck, glinting in the streetlights. I cocked my head and reached for the chain. The girl made an attempt to block my hand, but I just held both her wrists in one hand and lifted the necklace out from underhershirt with the other. A small purple gem hung from the chain. I glanced at the girl's hands, and then slid the fabric of her jacket away from her wrist. Flesh-colored markings wrapped themselves around the skin of her wrist, connecting under her palm. My eyes shifted to hers. They were _so_ familiar. Light brown, outlined in a darker shade around the outside of the iris and the pupil. They were hard and unfeeling, but then she faltered and the wall crumbled. For a second her eyes were filled with a sadness I'd only seen once before. But then, the wall was rebuilt, and her eyes were as hard as ever. I tilted the girl's chin up and to the side. A thin, light pink scar trailed down to her chin, just under her jaw line.

"Neesha?"

A/N: Okay, so... obvviously, this wasn't in Neesha's point of view. And... yeah. That's really it. Oh! And there's no disclaimer because... I pretty much own everything in this chapter... except Starbucks.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Darren or Mr. Crepsley (they belong to Darren Shan), nor do I own Faith (she belongs to ... whoever wrote for Buffy).

It couldn't be. Not after all this time. I took in his appearance – there was no mistaking it. He had the same messy dirty blonde hair, the same grey-blue eyes. I couldn't believe it. "Aries?"

He grinned and let go of me, his arms dropping to his sides. It'd been almost 10 years since the last time I saw him. He'd changed so much since then. His skin had paled to an almost ivory color, and he was obviously much stronger. There was no mistaking what he'd become. It almost made me sad that he'd been changed. I smiled sadly. "When did it happen, Aries?"

His expression hardened, but relaxed a bit when he looked out towards the street. "A few months ago," he murmured. The serious face melted away and he looked back up at me. "But that's not important now. How've you been!" he asked excitedly.

I narrowed my eyes. How could he change the subject like that! "Nuh-uh. I'm not saying a word until you tell me what happened."

He arched an eyebrow. "Why do you want to know?"

"You're my friend!" I frowned, "Well… at least… you used to be. But that's not the point. I care about you enough to know why you… you…"

"Died?"

"For lack of a better word…yes. So come on. Tell me why you died."

He didn't move; just stared at me. My eyes narrowed, again. "You're telling me."

"Or what?" he laughed.

"Or…or…" I sighed, "Just tell me. Please?"

He gazed down at me for awhile. It was kind of getting uncomfortable – for me, at least – kind of awkward. But then, he smirked and shook his head slightly. "Fine."

He sighed and watched the sidewalk as it slid smoothly beneath him. I waited for a minute or two. I had to know why and how this happened. Don't ask me why, I just needed to know.

"After you moved away," he started, "my family and I moved back to Baton Rouge. It was fine for awhile, but then… my parents started to fight. It wasn't anything to serious; just the regular stuff that parents fight about, I guess. And it never really got any worse. It was just constant; every day, usually about the same things. I guess it just got to be too much for my mom, after awhile.

"A few months after I turned eight, my parents split up. My bastard of a father had been sleeping around with his secretary. He took the house, the car, and most of the money. My mom, my sister and I had hardly anything left.

"So, my mom decided that we could live in motels with the money we had, she'd take on three jobs to support us, and we'd stay in school for as long as we could. It was a fairly good idea. Although my sister's and my grades suffered a little bit with mom's absence, we got enough money and found a cheap trailer park somewhere near New Orleans about a year later. We bought this shabby looking trailer; it was the best our limited money could buy.

"It was pretty rough from then on. After a couple of years my mom got depressed. She started buying booze with a little bit of the money she got from her paychecks. She'd drink a lot, never caring if my sister or I saw her drunk. After awhile, the alcohol wasn't enough for her. She started buying drugs, almost anything she could get her hands on, to try to ease away the sadness. Needless to say, a lot of the money went away. It got to the point where I had to drop out of school. That was enough for me. School, ironically, was one of the best places I could be at that time. I didn't have to deal with mom, or our lack of money and food. When I was at school, I could forget about all the problems going on for a few hours a day. I'd study for as long as I could at home and did my homework as perfect as I could, just so I wouldn't have to walk out of the room I shared with my sister and see the wreck mom had become."

Aries frowned slightly, his eyebrows hardly moving at all. His voice had quieted by then.

"After five years I'd had enough." His voice was barely above a whisper. "I remember being so ready for everything to end…" His eyes darted to mine. After a moment, they shifted back to the pavement. He sighed. "So, one night I left. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with myself. I wanted to kill myself so badly, but I was afraid to go through with it. I knew I couldn't go back to that hell hole. There was nothing for me there anymore. Then I figured I should just walk around for awhile, give myself a chance to cool off before I went and did anything rash.

"When I finally _did_ calm down, I was far away from home. Somehow I'd managed to walk to the French quarter. I decided that I could try to find a room for the night. Not sure what I was thinking; what sort of motel is going to let some kid who has no money at all use one of their rooms? So, obviously, I hadn't found a place to stay. I'd gotten really hungry after a couple hours. It got to a point where my stomach had started to actually burn in hunger. But I was way more exhausted than hungry, so I decided to stay under the balcony of one of the hotels I'd tried to get a room in. It was then that he found me."

A bitter smile darkened Aries face. "Somehow he knew my name. He asked me if I was hungry, and when I said no, he brought me to one of the few restaurants that were still open. He bought me a meal and asked me why I was out on the streets. And me, being the idiot I was, told him everything."

Aries sighed and shook his head. "He got me a room in one of the better hotels nearby. I would've thanked him, but apparently I passed out before I could even get to the room; I don't remember ever actually going in the room.

"The next morning when I woke up, I wasn't in some hotel in New Orleans anymore. I was in a big mansion, but aside from that I had no idea where I was," he laughed suddenly, "I remember being _really_ bored that day. The door to the room had been locked from the outside so there was no escaping for me."

His smile slowly dwindled and vanished from his face completely, leaving his face expressionless. "Then, he came back for me that night. The guy told me his name, and I immediately knew what he was. I begged him to change me; to take me away from the short life I hated so much. He'd refused at first, looking back on it; I guess he'd always meant to change me. He was probably just waiting for the right moment… Anyway, after I'd pestered him for awhile he made me a deal. He said that if I could hold up my end of the bargain, then he'd keep his word and make me like him. And, obviously, I did."

He looked at me and a smile crept across his face. "But enough about me, what've you been up to?"

I blinked. "A-Aries… I'm so sorry." Before I realized what I was doing, my arms had wrapped themselves around Aries and my head rested against his chest.

He froze, then, hesitantly, he hugged me back. "It… It's okay."

"Neesha?"

I looked to the side. "Darren?"

"Neesha?" I blinked, again. No way…

"Mr. Crepsley?" Aries asked, shocked.

"…Aries?"

Aries and I shared a glance then looked back to Darren and the man standing next to him. The man was clothed completely in dark red, making his skin look three times whiter than it probably was. A crop of orange hair sat on the top of his head and a long scar stretched down his left cheek to his lips, giving the illusion that his mouth stretched halfway up his face. _Huh… he kind of looks like a candy cane…_

The man stepped forward, curling his index finger under my chin. "My God," he murmured, "you've grown so much." He turned to Aries. "And you…"

"Larten, do you know them?" Darren asked incredulously. Uh-oh… looks like someone's been left in the dark.

"Not as much as I thought I did," he ripped his eyes away from Aries and turned back to Darren, "Why do you think I told you to follow her?"

I scowled. "You asked him to follow me? What, do you think I can't take care of myself?"

He turned to face me. "Well, you are hugging a vampire. That makes me think you could use a little help." He grinned. Charming; he looks like 'It'.

I rolled my eyes and pulled away from Aries. "We haven't seen each other in near 10 years, Larten. Give us a break," Aries said softly.

"Wait a second," Darren walked up to the three of us, "How do you know them?"

"I was friends with Neesha's parents, and I visited often in the first few years of Neesha's life," Larten said fondly.

I smiled sadly – Aries did, too. Things had been so much simpler before…

"It's getting late," I mumbled, "I should really go home." Larten nodded, and I said goodbye to Darren and Aries. I'd taken two steps when a hand grabbed my arm. "I'll be seeing you again, right?" Aries asked quietly. The other two were already halfway down the street.

"Of course," I laughed.

He grinned and let go of my arm. "See you around." I nodded and turned away, towards the direction of my house.

Faith wasn't there when I got home. Nadia was in the kitchen, trying to make macaroni and cheese without burning it. James, Faith's 11 year old son, was lounging on the couch, watching TV. I walked down the hall to the room Nadia and I shared. After I'd shut the door behind me, I leaned against the white wood, eyes shut. All I could think about was what had happened to Aries. I'd always be sorry for what happened to him. _He didn't deserve it._ I sighed. "And so it begins."

A/N: Well, that was icky. It's a filler chapter but still... bad. Much wierdness at the end, I think. Meh. Alrighty. I won't waste anymore of you're time.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Faith, Wesley or Angel, they belong to whoever wrote for Buffy. Darren and Larten belong to Darren Shan. Cherita Chen belongs to the writers of Donnie Darko (brilliant movie, by the way). And Amanda is based off that annoying little girl in the Addams Family movies.

The next Monday, I was in the school library, doing my library assistant duties. It's my way of helping out around the campus, plus, since hardly anyone ever goes in there for more than five minutes, I get to skip school for an hour. Miles calls it 'reluctant permission to ditch'. Meh.

Anyway, while I was shelving books the hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stood on end and a weird smell filled my nose. I turned my head in mid-shelf and saw Darren standing at the entrance of the aisle, a beige messenger bag hanging across his chest. There was really no need for me to look; I knew it was Darren by the smell. It suited him. I'm not sure how to describe it – something mixed with blood. Now that's a smell one can only acquire by being a vampire… or working in a butcher shop. I can just see it now…

_Darren (still very much human) walks up to me. "Hi."_

"_You have a very distinct smell, though it seems to be missing something…" I say, tapping a finger against my chin._

"…_?"_

"_Aha! That's it! Blood!"_

"…"

…Anyway, back to the present (and unfortunately reality)…

Darren just stood there, in the unusual sunlight streaming in through the window, fingers wrapped around the strap of his messenger bag, watching me closely. We stood like that for a moment or two. _He doesn't seem to be breathing. I wonder if he can breathe. Oh, there goes his chest..._ It started to get a little weird. My eyes shifted around before settling back on him. "… Yes?"

"Hi."

"Hi. What're you doing here?"

He shrugged. _Riiiight…_I looked back at the bookshelf, then, eyebrow arched, set a book in its place on the shelf. I'd gotten through four more books before Darren spoke again.

"Larten told me about you over the weekend."

Smirking, I shelved another book. "Did he?"

I saw him nod out of the corner of my eye. "I'm sorry."

I stopped in mid-shelf, again, and turned my head in his direction. "What did he say?" I asked, though it came out as a weird half laugh.

He gazed nonchalantly at the books on a shelf. "Things… about where you used to live, how you knew Aries," he looked back at me, "Sonia and your parents…"

I stilled, my breathing slowed. I swallowed. "And what did he have to say about them?" My voice was quiet, slightly strained.

"…Did you, like, _see_ what she was wearing?" The annoyingly familiar voice filled the library. I could just see the librarian huff indignantly. "I mean, that top did _so_ totally not match her lip-gloss. And that jacket, SO totally last week. And – ugh. It's you."

"Good afternoon to you too, Amanda," I said, turning back to the shelf and setting another book in its place.

It was Amanda; the cheerleading captain, the girlfriend of the senior quarterback, daddy's little girl, the bitch I promised to loathe for all eternity. Her thick headed cronies weren't far behind. They'd actually been pretty smart once, but that was before they were brainwashed by Amanda's vainness and stupidity.

"What're you doing here, freak?"

"I am doing Mrs. Eichelberger's job because she's too lazy to get off her fat ass and put down her soft-core porn."

"What's wrong with a little romance?" She asked sweetly, innocently. My _God_ who is she trying to fool? "But you'd know, like, nothing of romance would you, Meethra?"

"If by romance you mean screwing 'til the cows come home, then no. I know absolutely nothing of romance."

She laughed in that way a gossip finds out something especially juicy. "Are you telling me you're a virgin?"

I turned my head towards the irritating being. "Please tell me _you_ are."

She laughed in delight. I gaped. "How is that possible!"

"I'm dating a senior, aren't I?"

I shelved another book, thoroughly disgusted.

"Oh please, don't be so grandmothery," I rolled my eyes, "I'm just mature for my age."

"Yeah, if you call mature spitting gum in Cherita Chen's hair…"

"Ugh! She's a nerd!"

"She's a person, not a soup can."

"Um, nerds aren't people. And besides, she's, like, about as pretty as a soup can. She needs a label to, like, cover up her ugliness. Maybe it'll, like, hold in the fat, too."

Her cronies laughed, a high pitched and giggly, extremely unpleasant sound.

I stared at them in disbelief. "Just… leave. Leave before I do something drastic."

"Like what?"

"Um, I dunno, like shoving this book down your throat and your cronies up your ass."

She gasped. "I'm telling the librarian about your potty mouth." She turned her head snobbishly and stalked off, motioning for her friends to follow her.

I turned back to my half finished work.

"You shouldn't associate yourself with me."

"Why?" asked Darren.

I sighed. "How do I put this…?" I mused. "They think you're weird now. Once you start hanging around me, they'll consider you a freak and irritate you as much as they can."

"Who is this 'they' you speak of?"

"Amanda, her bitches, Cherita, everyone…"

"… Do you think I'm weird?"  
"Yes. But you've a perfectly good reason to be. And besides, being weird is good. It makes you different – far less likely to resort to conformity."

He paused. "Do they think you're different?"

"Yes, obviously, but I don't care. Rather be weird than like them. By 'them' I mean the people who devote their lives to fitting in." I picked the final book from the bottom of the cart. "Yes! I'm almost done… and it's not marked," I frowned. "What the hell am I supposed to do with this? It has no home!"

"Calm down, Neesha. Just read the title."

I waved the book in front of his face. "It _has_ no title."

"…Then check the title page."

"Like that will help," I pointed to the spine of one of the books, "Numbers only."

"Well, can't you figure out what number it is?"

I blinked. "…Do you honestly think I know how the decimal system thingy works?"

"You're a horrible library assistant."

"Hey, at least I get to skip class."

I glanced at the book then cautiously laid it down in an empty space on the shelf.

"Won't the librarian notice that it's not shelved properly?" Darren asked as I wheeled the cart to the back room.

"Pfft. I'll be damned if she's gone 10 feet past her desk in the whole seven years she's worked here."

-------------------------

My next period was LA. It was boring, as usual. Apparently Mrs. Carnes doesn't think we have the ability to distinguish red from blue… I swear it's like kindergarten for people who didn't quite get anything the first time around. Not much attention had to be paid in that class -- we'd already learned half of the lesson plan in third grade. I was sitting in the back of class, doodling on a piece of paper when I was, so rudely, almost pushed out of my seat. "What the hell!" I stopped as the class stared at me and snickered at my outburst.

"Miss Meethra," said Mrs. Carnes in that annoyingly soft voice, "I'll let your interjection slip if you can answer the question." Her eyes widened slightly at the end of her sentence.

"The question...?" I asked slowly.

"Yes," she said, "answer it, and I won't write you up for the detention you should probably get."

_Why is she so sympathetic? I'm in trouble dammit; stop treating me like a toddler!_

"Mrs. Carnes," I began, resisting the temptation to tell her off for not telling me off, "…. Uh…. Good question…."

She gazed at me expectantly, eyes widened and eyebrows raised.

"Um……….?"

"Have an answer?"

I shook my head.

"Okay. You can sit down now."

I forced a smile then rolled my eyes when she looked away. I collapsed into my chair, ignoring my classmates' smirks.

Mrs. Carnes turned toward a kid at the table by the door.

"Lee, can you tell me the difference between an adjective and an adverb?"

I tuned out the remaining 30 minutes of class and lay my chin on my crossed arms, eyes closing automatically and falling asleep almost instantly.

I was in the clearing of a forest; in a large, round meadow. In the center of the clearing sat a pond, its waters clear as glass as the sun filtered through its depths. An old, gnarled tree twisted up from the large rock that sat by the edge of the pond. The grass was green and lush and warm rays of sunshine sifted through the branches of the giant trees. I walked through the soft grass to the edge of the pond, looking down at my reflection. A few moments passed and then a girl almost identical to me appeared next to my reflection. Her lips moved as she said a soundless message. Somehow I knew the only way I'd hear her would be to walk into the depths of the pond. I slowly stepped into the cool water then waited, both of my feet in the pond, before I walked on until I was in water up to my thighs. I stopped where the darker blue and light, clear blue met. The girl had followed me into the water, her whole reflection standing next to mine. Her lips moved but still no sound came out. She pointed toward the deep part of the pond.

In less than a second the clearing changed. The trees weren't holding out the bad things, they were caging me in. The old tree's branches twisted out, grabbing for me. Now, I saw the danger of this place. I couldn't go into the water. I knew that I'd probably never come out if I did. But I also knew that if I didn't take the risk, I'd never hear what the girl had to tell me. I took a deep breath and looked up at the sky, letting the sunlight warm my face. I looked down into the depths of the pond, my mind haunted with the thought of what I was going to do. I closed my eyes and took a last step into the deep waters of the pond.

I sunk through the water as if a rock had been chained to my feet. The water was freezing down here, as if the sun's rays couldn't penetrate the glassy surface. I plummeted through the icy water for what felt like hours, the light from above slowly fading away. Soon, I was enveloped in darkness, the only sounds I could hear were my arms and legs moving through the water and the constantly increasing rate of my heart. I was running out of air and the water seemed to get colder by the second. I had to find a way out. I needed to get out of the dark. I needed to get to the surface; to be warm, to breathe. I had no idea which way was up in the darkness, so I took a chance. I swam furiously up, or what I thought was up, against the pull of the freezing water. My breath was almost gone as the sunlight slowly came back into view. I was nearly to the top when I heard her voice; the voice of the girl.

"_Neesha…"_

I stopped; a bad mistake. Suddenly, my throat stung. It felt like something was trying to claw its' way out of my throat, cutting deep into the soft muscle of my esophagus. As her voice echoed in my ears my last breath ran out, and the very near light and promising warmth of the sun faded away into the black.

"_Neesha… Neesha…_ _Neesha!"_

Before my eyes could open I felt the freezing water flood up my throat and out of my mouth. I coughed and spluttered as I rolled onto my back to face the ceiling. People had formed a ring around me and I could see fifteen faces staring worriedly (some more than others) at me. I heard someone sigh in relief. "She's awake…" someone murmured, probably a teacher or something, the voice sounded older.

"Just breathe, Neesha." The voice sounded familiar but I couldn't place it. I breathed deep and shakily, my lungs stinging whenever I inhaled. I coughed a few times, my chest hurting with each hack. "Neesha, can you stand?" I nodded, wincing as I felt something on the back of my skull throb. I felt strong arms grip me under my arms and lift me to my feet. I wobbled a bit where I stood, dizzy from god knows what. I heard a small intake of breath coming from somewhere to my right. "You're freezing! Darren, can you take her to the nurse?" Someone, Darren probably, slipped my arm around their neck and let me lean on them as we made our way through the crowd.

My dulled senses became sharper with each step we took. "Darren…" my voice was weak, and my throat hurt as I spoke. "Darren what happened?"

"I don't know. Mrs. Carnes was talking and you started coughing. She ignored you for awhile but it started sounding like you were choking. She asked you if you needed a drink but you were asleep and when she went to wake you up you fell off your chair. You were out for awhile but then you woke up and… well…" he said as we turned a corner.

Wincing as my head gave a painful throb I said, "I told you, you shouldn't hang out with me."

He stopped. "You can't be serious…. You pass out in the middle of class, cough up some water, and on the way to the nurse's office you tell me this is why I shouldn't 'hang out with you'?" I arched an eyebrow somewhere in the middle of his short tirade. "On the contrary, I think Larten's right in having me follow you."

"Why, so you can protect me? That's a little paternal coming from someone who's… pardon me, someone who _looks_ 16. Pray tell, how old_ are _you?"

He rolled his eyes and started helping me along again. I laughed which came out as a cough and felt thick drops of blood slip onto my tongue.

We walked through the doorway of the nurse's office. "Can I- What happened?" I heard a woman's voice question. Darren told her briefly what happened as they laid me on the cot. I shut my eyes as my head rested against the stiff pillow. I felt someone pull a warm blanket over my arms and brush the sweat-dampened hair out of my eyes.

The nurse called Faith and I almost laughed as I heard Faith's voice faintly say "What's she done now?" When the nurse hung up, she told me that Faith would be here in a few minutes. Darren was free to go back to class but he declined and said that he was supposed to stay with me. I rolled my eyes under my eyelids.

About 10 minutes later, I heard quick footsteps and quiet mumbles. "Neesha, what've you gotten yourself into this time?" a voice drawled.

_Faith…_

My eyes opened, but snapped back shut as they were blinded by the florescent lights. Slowly, I eased them back open, letting them adjust to the dim brightness. "I hope you're not suggesting that I did this to myself," I said as I laid my now opened eyes on Faith.

She was different from the stories Angel and Wesley used to tell me. She wasn't the same person that I'd seen in a picture way back when. Her eyes were bright and glittery, not overcome by the anger and the hate she used to have before. The fierceness was still there though; I doubt it'd ever not been there. Her hair fell down to her shoulders, framing her face. She was still really young, in her mid thirties. She'd had James really young – no older than 22. She'd cleaned up a lot of her act since then.

"I wouldn't put it past you," she mumbled. It may or may not have been intended for me to hear.

She looked over at Darren, recognizing him for what he was almost immediately. She arched an eyebrow. "I'm Faith."

"Darren."

Silence.

_Hey! A gay baby…_

"Eh… so… Darren helped me to the nurse's office."

"Did he?"

Darren nodded.

"…Yeah. Um, hey, since it's basically the end of the day—"

"It's 1:00 in the afternoon," Faith scoffed.

I brushed it off. "Can I go home?"

She eyed me for awhile then she gave me a look. "Fine, but you're walking."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine."

I hopped off the cot and said a quick good-bye to Darren before following Faith out of the office.

"You're backpack?" she asked as we walked through the front doors.

"I'll get Nadia to break into my locker for me."


End file.
